Lyle Tealeaf
Lyle Tealeaf Ghostwise Halfling Cleric of Trickery Lyle was the son of a poor peasant family and never knew the pleasantries of modern living. Tilling the fields and tending to the livestock were all he knew, except the fanciful stories he fabricated to himself as he toiled his days away. One day a nobleman’s carriage, on its way to the big city, broke down. This was his chance, Lyle thought. He approached the nobleman and, putting on his best noble persona that he had been rehearsing, struck up a conversation. He convinced the distressed nobleman that he was the mayor of his humble village and that he would help the nobleman repair his carriage. He whistled for one of his servants (his younger brother) and ordered that he repair the broken wheel. While his brother begrudgingly made the repair, Lyle befriended the noble, and was promptly invited to join him on the last leg of his journey; Lyle of course agreed. Once they reached the city, Lyle was quickly introduced to many of the powers-at-be and his wit and friendliness quickly earned some favor among the upper echelons. After a few months in the city making more and more powerful friends, an old woman approached him. She told him that she was an emissary of the Goddess Sulla and that she had “paved his way to this place.” Lyle was confused, but he went to brush past the woman and continue on his way, his arm passed right through her. “You owe our mistress a great debt, little one.” Lyle asked the woman what her ‘mistress’ wanted to which the woman replied, “she needs a favor. Your size makes you perfect for it.” Lyle tried to pry more information from her, but all the woman said was, “You will know what she wants when you see it.” About a year went by after this strange encounter and Lyle had taken up classes at the university such as Ancient History, Natural Science, Public Speaking and Linguistics. During this time he came across some interesting writings about the phases of the moon and the old Lunar Calendar. There seemed to be a pattern in some historical writ that corresponded to some rarer lunar occurrences; a discovery he put aside for his eventual dissertation. In the summer after his year at university he met a knight and his company on their way to Alistair’s Stand. The Knight offered to take him with them saying, “His size would find much use in the North-lands.” This statement caught his attention. Upon greater inspection, the knight bore a symbol on his pauldron of a crescent moon over a field of many stars. Lyle, intrigued by this knight’s imagery and his familiar statement, decided to go with him. He told the knight he needed the evening to get his things in order, but that he would follow. He withdrew from university, wrote some farewell notes to his friends and set out the next morning in the hopes of getting some answers. Along the way their caravan was ambushed, and the knight was gravely wounded. Lyle heard a voice like a crystal bell whisper in his ear, “Your first miracle as my servant. Now begins your repayment...” Lyle felt a surge of inexplicable desire to place his hand on the knight, and when he did the wound began to close. The other knights and squires were amazed and began murmuring about him being “Moon touched.” The silvery voice whispered once again in Lyle’s ear, “this is only the beginning, little one. Keep following my voice, and I will lead you through the darkness with my light.” Lyle, confused, looked up at the sky and saw that the moon that night had been flaring red; a phenomena he had noticed in his history books in times of great strife. All he could think to himself was, “what have I gotten myself into?”